Edward Snowden Charged With Espionage Over NSA Leaks

WASHINGTON, June 21 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors have filed a sealed criminal complaint charging Edward Snowden, who disclosed American telephone and internet surveillance programs, with espionage, theft and conversion of government property, the Washington Post reported on Friday.
The United States also has asked Hong Kong to detain the former National Security Agency contractor on a provisional arrest warrant, the Post reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials. Snowden is reported to be in hiding in Hong Kong.
The criminal complaint was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, where Snowden's former employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, is located, the Post reported.
Documents leaked by Snowden revealed that U.S. security services had monitored data about phone calls from Verizon and Internet data from large companies such as Google and Facebook as part of counterterrorism efforts.
U.S. federal prosecutors, by filing a criminal complaint, lay claim to a legal basis to make the request of the authorities in Hong Kong, the Post reported. The prosecutors now have 60 days to file an indictment and can then take steps to secure Snowden's extradition from Hong Kong for a criminal trial in the United States, the newspaper reported.
Snowden would be able to challenge the U.S. request for his extradition in court in Hong Kong, the Post reported.
The newspaper noted the U.S. extradition treaty with Hong Kong has an exception for political offenses, and that espionage has been viewed as a political offense.
An Icelandic businessman linked to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said on Thursday he had readied a private plane in China to fly Snowden to Iceland if Iceland's government would grant asylum.
Iceland refused on Friday to say whether it would grant asylum to Snowden. (Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Jim Loney)

Isn't treason over revealing secrets to FOREIGN governments?
It seems Snowden revealed secrets to our own populace, not foreign powers.

But by revealing them in the way he did, the whole world has access. The fact that somewhat hostile governments like China and Russia are protecting him also is problematic.

He's a fucking asshole. These programs were going on since bush was president. This isn't some program President Obama cooked up. It was against the law for him to save any of this information. He wasn't even supposed to be accessing most of this information. That's also against the law
Snowden signed a contract stating that he would not access any records that didn't have anything to do with his work. He signed numerous confidentiality agreements as well as many other forms that he was aware that accessing records not having to do with his work and/or breaking any confidentiality agreements was a crime. A serious Federal crime and could be considered espionage if any confidential information was released and got into the wrong hands. So what does he do? he does all these things and MORE. Fuck him. I hope he spends ten years in jail

I'm so glad he is thumbing his nose and exposing the parasites (both R&D) as the real threat---not some low-level NSA employee. The ruling elite are angry they can't control him, and worry that more "leakers" will be emboldened by Snowden and expose even more government crimes.
The US GOVERNMENT is evil, corrupt and needs to be peacefully dismantled, with all powers devolved back to the state and county level.

Snowden is a hero.
Things are turning from bad to worse for the real-life version of The Terminal's Edward Snowden, who a day after applying to 21 countries for political asylum has been flooded with rejection letters near and far, even as he was forced to cancel his application to his current host nation, Russia, after being told he would have to stop leaking secrets as a condition to stay. More from the FT: "The 30-year-old fugitive’s options narrowed further on Tuesday when China reacted coolly to the idea of him moving there, Poland rejected an application and other European nations said asylum requests had to be made in the country."
Of the 21 applicants listed yesterday, so far 9 countries have rejected his asylum status application. These include:
Austria
Brazil
Ecuador
Finland
India
Ireland
Norway
Poland
Spain
And with Russia now out of the running too, 10 out of 21 on the original list are out. The bulk of these countries rejected the application on a technicality, claiming that the applicant must be on their soil before he or she can be granted asylum status.

Wow!

After the shit the US pulled last night, by diverting the plane of Ecuador's president and forcing it to land in Austria, I hope that some brave country comes forward and offers him asylum and protection.
Our government is evil and out of control.
Happy "INDEPENDENCE FUCKING DAY" you slaves.

Snowden deserves his own giant, private tropical island for exposing the government to the people. This is an across the board issue, most people of every political belief know the guy is a hero deep down. Those who don't are the bureaucratic butt kisser system worshiping hack types.

R8, isn't it a shame that they don't tell you the recipe for secret sauce at McDonald's where you work so you can share it with the world and make the universe safe for adolescent turds like you?
Maybe you can wear a cape.

R8 - first of all it was a Bolivian plane carrying the President of Bolivia. Not Ecuador.
My sympathies lie with Snowden.
But this plane issue smells.
France is furious with the US for spying on them. Why on earth would they deny the Bolivian plane the right to fly over their air space.
The Bolivian President doesn't like the US at all - made obvious by the fact he expelled our ambassador in 2008.
This story smells like Bolivia trying to get some international sympathy.

R10 = boot licker

How's that workin' out for Snowden, holed up in a Moscow airport hotel? How is he enjoying his freedom ? Putin told him to shut up if he wants to stay there, as of yet no one else has offered up to take him.
Enjoy yourself, Edward. Karma's a bitch

Anonymous

Who gives a fuck about Bolivia?

R14 - Bolivia has 5 billion dollars in international debt.
I bet the folks holding their notes care.

R11, if France believed Snowden was on that plane then it would certainly have denied it the right to pass through its air space.

R16 - Why? So we won't call French fries freedom fries? The French government is getting pressure from left and right over USA spying.
The point is there is no verification that the French knew or suspected Snowden was on the plane, or that they denied to allow the plane in their air space.

Bolivia, Ecuador, Cuba- he's applied for asylum in all 3.
The US GOVERNMENT is playing the bully, so they can torture him.

Snowden is an idiot. In Russia, Putin is the law. As a former KGB, he is not sympathetic to traitors. He offered Snowden the best he could. You can stay but keep your mouth shut. Snowden refused so Putin said good bye. Evo Morales is a big mouthed fool who spouted off in Moscow about taking Snowden back to BOlivia with him. This set the other countries off because nobody wants Snowden in their country. All countries have spies and they don't want them giving secrets to the USA and then we granting them asylum. China probably has 3 times( a guess )the number we have all over the world. They specialize in technology stealing etc. More news is coming out about this soap opera. Please reserve judgment.

France has a very nicely functioning spy apparatus that spies on as many organizations as it can, including its allies. It is disingenuous for France to complain.
Snowden is a drama queen. He is not a stateless person -- his passport has been revoked. Asylum is not a right for him or anybody else.
Evo Morales is also a drama queen. He wanted to look like a big shot by stepping into an international incident and shooting his mouth off about it. In Russia, yet. Cause drama, get drama.
Bolivia is a very poor, very limited place. Ecuador looks like Mar-a-Lago next to Bolivia.
Wonder if Snowden would take a do-over at this point. I'm sure he is missing free wi-fi and Hot Pockets.

Why does Snowden have this resentment / hatred for the United States?

Anonymous

R20-
If I had done what Snowden did, a life in a small section of a Russian airport would be a small price to pay for exposing the depths and extent of these evil, horrifying programs.
Our government is evil. The men that run it are sociopathic, power-mad and dangerous.
The fact that the NSA will probably save this post, connect it to my "real identity" and use it against me in the future if I don't submit to their will doesn't scare me.
So, lick the shitty boots of your oppressor, gladly offer your wrists for their chains...I will live free with the knowledge that I did NOT submit to tyrannical fools.
Although I'm sure you're too ignorant to be able to translate this quote, it is why I live by-
[bold]Tu ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito

Fuck%20slavery

I think snowden is a fame whore and it's too bad he did this in a way that brought all attention to himself. So for that fuck him. It is delicious ironic that he made his big announcement in the wonderful and free china then ran away to the also amazing russia.
I'm still waiting for real hard specific secrets. Sorry none of this is shocking. I want the dirt on the scumbags and the dirty laundry of specific people and exposure of the hypocrites.

R23= the banality of evil.

[/bold]
No shit, r24
People too ignorant of how close we are to Nazi Germany circa 1939 make me sad. I hate these NeoCon Freeper government worshipping fucktards.
R23- Fame whore? The man gave up his LIFE to expose the evil core of the US GOVERNMENT!
People like you are too retarded to breathe. Fuck off and suck Cheney's asshole.

Yeah, r25, he's an arrogant famewhore. And now he's cooked his own goose because no one wants him.
He's a libertarian fucktard, and I hope he enjoys the rest of his life inside the zone at the Moscow airport.

R20 - Actually the US recognizes the right of asylum. It is an old legal tradition codified in federal and international law.
Exactly what criteria are you using to establish whether or not someone is a drama queen?
But I think it is a good plan to make fun of Snowden. That will surely distract the country from a discussion of what the US government is up to - and exactly how much information they are collecting on US citizens.
Although my favorite distraction is the "we already new this and anyways I'm not doing anything wrong so I don't care or value my privacy"

No kidding, R27
The MSM is pushing the "we already knew they were spying so this is old news" meme.
It makes me sad that people like R26- someone who should (assuming they are a gay female) be scared of "profiling" and giving the government access to all their phone conversations, texts, emails, etc. supports this shit.
It makes me wonder if gubmint skools have succeeded in making most "graduates" into thoughtless automatons that automatically worship the government.

Christ, r28, you sound almost as stupid as Snowden. Yeah,, I'm gay. No, I'm not a female. I never said I approve of government spying, but I also think libertarians are scum, Snowden is foul, and making him some kind of hero (the man who gave up his LIFE to expose the evil core of the US government - talk about a MARY! comment!)
He's a hero only in the bizarro world. His "sacrifice" was all about his own self-aggrandizement, and yeah, it's amusing to imagine his squirming now that no one, but no one, wants his ass in their country.

R29 nailed it.
Fuck Edward Snowden. How fucking stupid are these libertarian retards who imagine that an arrogant, selfish, cowardly punk-ass-bitch like Snowden is a hero?
If that little turd is what passes for a hero to you, go kill yourselves now. There is no reason for you to be alive and certainly no reason for you to be in the United States - ever.

Reality

He's not actually in the airport, according to NBC news. He's on a restricted floor of a nearby hotel. An NBC reporter walked through the method by which he could travel from the airport via controlled van, go straight to a nearby airport hotel where he is confined to one floor.

R30-
If he had done this under the Bu$h administration you would hail him as hero.

it's interesting so many of you guys are so focused on the laws that Snowdon broke, but not at all concerned with all the laws the American government is routinely breaking and all of your civil rights that the government is trampling under the guise of protecting us from terrorists.

No shit, R33
Like I said, if Snowden had exposed a Republican these morons would be calling for blood.
There is ONE PARTY in the USofA- the oligarchy of super-wealthy bankster connected parasites.

Navalny’s alleged involvement in fraud stemmed from a special deal where the boss of a state-owned timber company agreed to sell timber at below market prices to a broker who shared some of the profit with Navalny, who had put the deal together. It was a corrupt arrangement that had been repeated countless times under the rule of Yeltsin and no doubt was not unheard of in the Putin era either. During the Yeltsin era, it was the stuff oligarchs were made of, and often there was a little something for American enablers as well, especially if they agreed to look the other way. According to those who have been watching the trial closely, Navalny was caught red-handed, with wiretaps and witness testimony, yet still the US ambassador felt it necessary to weigh in on the trial to condemn the proceedings as politically motivated. Even if the trial did not meet with US approval, however, McFaul’s comments were far beyond his role as a diplomat.
Going too far is McFaul’s trademark, however. He has been extremely controversial as US ambassador to Russia because of his long history of frontline involvement in the US regime change and color revolution schemes. He was so involved in the US-funded Orange Revolution in Ukraine that he literally wrote the book on it. He turned diplomacy on its head when he declared that the US “must do more” to promote Russian democracy as his nomination to be Ambassador to Moscow was being considered by the Senate. His Russia experience goes back further than that, however, with a stint at the helm of the US-funded regime change specialist National Democratic Institute in Moscow in the early 1990s.
Neoconservative Robert Kagan gave McFaul two thumbs up when Obama nominated him to be Ambassador to Russia, stating that “the opposition in Russia will feel like it has somebody they can talk to.” Diplomacy, neocon-style.

In the “Arab Spring” which resulted in the overthrow of Egypt’s US-backed dictator Hosni Mubarak by US-sponsored liberals, who were then shunted aside in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was then shunted aside in favor of military rule, McFaul again played a key role. As the Washington Post reports on an interview with an Egyptian dissident at the time:
The army decided to get rid of Mubarak, right?
The Egyptian chief of staff on orders from the White House was escalating the pressure. President Obama’s advisers, who are good friends — Samantha Power and Michael McFaul — asked me to come [to Washington]. They relied on me as a source. . . . After Mubarak’s second speech, Obama became convinced [that Mubarak had to go].
At a time when whistleblowers and journalists are being threatened by US politicians and government officials with arrest and imprisonment for revealing and reporting on the massively un-American NSA global spying dragnet, when the US president involves himself for political reasons in a trial that is far beyond his authority, US officials still find time to stick – or Tweet – their noses into the business of sovereign governments overseas on matters in which they have no authority or competency. As long as the beneficiaries, with all their ghastly flaws, are opposing a foreign leader out of favor of the US foreign policy elite, that is.

"America does not have a functioning democracy at this point in time," former President Jimmy Carter (shown) said this week, according to a report in the German newspaper Der Spiegel. Carter was quoted as having made that remark at a closed-door meeting of Atlantic Bridge, a research and education organization supporting cooperation between the United States and Great Britain on political, economic, and defense issues. The former president reportedly said the National Security Agency's invasion of privacy has gone too far, as he defended that actions of Edward Snowden, the American now seeking asylum in Russia after leaking classified documents revealing the massive NSA interception of communications between citizens and among government officials worldwide.

R37-
Scary. When a former president tells the world that his country has become a fascist oligarchy we should take note.

Our government is now the new USSR.
I now understand what liberty loving Germans felt in the 1930s.

But he's hot.

I'm just about to piss myself!
I "lost" many of the starred threads on my Thread Watcher. This has happened a few times, usually when I post something that makes the webcuntress bleed extra runny.
This time I decided that every week I would take a screen shot and then google them.
Well, during my google I discovered that our
[quote]Oh, dear
And
[quote]Dear Heart
Troll was the same stupid bitch that was defending the invasion of Iraq and Iran, supporting the subsidies to Wal Mart and ADM and Intel, defending the NSA spying, defending the Federal Reserve bailouts of the banks, defending the loss of civil liberties due to the PATRIOT ACT and encouraging the invasion of Egypt, Syria, Libya and defending Israel at every turn.
She must work for the government.
If this thread disappears...think nothing of it.

Snowden is a hero.
Unlike Bradley Manning, he won't have to be tortured by the USGOV for exposing the crimes they are perpetrating against us.

[quote]Troll was the same stupid bitch that was defending the invasion of Iraq and Iran, supporting the subsidies to Wal Mart and ADM and Intel, defending the NSA spying, defending the Federal Reserve bailouts of the banks, defending the loss of civil liberties due to the PATRIOT ACT and encouraging the invasion of Egypt, Syria, Libya and defending Israel at every turn.
Wow... you spammed all of your old threads with these lies, didn't you? I'm touched. And here I didn't think you cared. Obsessed much?

No, R45-
I had to google the "lost" threads and there was a big yellow streak through them where you defended government atrocities.

The charges are meaningless sword-rattling. The US government is quite happy with him essentially exiled permanently.
They'd murder him before they'd allow him to appear before a judge. They have no idea what he'd say, what he's held back as a trump card.
It's certain that what he's revealed thus far is only a portion of what he knows.

[quote]I had to google the "lost" threads and there was a big yellow streak through them where you defended government atrocities.
LOL... Still lying? You know it's not true, which is why you can't point to a single post of mine or a single thread where I've posted even one word to "defend government atrocities."
Here's a free clue: when you have to lie so clumsily, just pack it in. You're done.

I hope someone shoots him and his vile father. They disgust me. Snowden is a coward and a criminal.

R49
WTF?
Exposing illegal activity by our government is criminal?
Are you from the USSR? Oh, wait, we now live in the USSA, and shitcuntfucks like you defend this Bulshit.

Why would he come back when he can be killed?
The San Francisco medical examiner's office has said it could be several months before the cause of death for acclaimed hacker Barnaby Jack is released.
Jack, who was born in New Zealand, was famous for hacking implanted medical devices and ATMs. He was found dead in San Francisco on 25 July.
A San Francisco police department spokesperson told the Guardian Jack was found dead by "a loved one" in an apartment in the city's Nob Hill neighborhood and that no foul play was suspected.
Jack lived in San Francisco, where he worked as the director of embedded security research at security firm IOActive. The company said Jack was survived by his mother and sister in New Zealand and his girlfriend in California.
"This is an extremely sad time for us all at IOActive, and the many people in our industry that Barnaby touched in so many ways with both his work and vibrant personality," IOActive CEO Jennifer Steffens said in a statement. "But as a personal friend of Barnaby's for many years I know he'd want sadness to quickly turn to celebration of his life, work and the tremendous contributions he's made spanning well beyond his widely acclaimed professional accomplishments."
She said the company will continue working with the industry to "ensure the advancements Barnaby started in this field will continue saving lives for years to come".
Jack became well-known in 2010 after hacking an ATM so it would spit out money at the Black Hat hacking convention in Las Vegas. He received further acclaim last year by showing how an insulin pump is vulnerable to a hack that would allow a hacker to dispense a fatal dosage of insulin from 300ft away.
He was due to present his latest research on hacking implanted medical devices at this year's Black Hat convention on Thursday. Jack was set to show how he could hack into pacemakers and implanted defibrillators from 30ft away. That slot is now being used as a time to commemorate his life and work.
"Barnaby Jack meant so much to so many people, and we hope this forum will offer an opportunity for us all to recognize the legacy that he leaves behind," said Black Hat in a statement.
During presentations on implanted medical device hacks, Jack obscured some details to prevent people from replicating the attacks. His work also moved several companies to examine the security of their devices.
A fund created in his honor has collected nearly $11,000 and the donations will be used according to the wishes of his family.
San Francisco police said that it responded to a deceased person call at 7.41pm on 25 July. The police did not suspect foul play, so the case was handed over to the city's medical examiners office.

So, a guy who has demonstrated how you can hack ATMs, pacemakers and control cars by remote, dies at 35 of no ascertainable cause right before he is to present another public display of how the government (oh, wait, anyone) can hack many devices, just a month after a young man who exposed government abuse and evils died in a mysterious car crash...
Nothing to see here, move along...

[quote][R30]- If he had done this under the Bu$h administration you would hail him as hero.
R32, this was done under the Bush administration. We were all talking about it in 2006. No one was hailed as a hero.
I realize that you were in grade school in 2006 but would it kill you to do a little reading up on these things before you go ranting and raving on a gay men's gossip website?
\t

R30

R53-
If you are R30 why don't you show up in trolldar?
Oh, wait- just like I've said in other threads you are a government cocksucking troll who defends murder and spying.

Guardian newspaper journalist Glenn Greenwald appeared on ABC News "This Week" program yesterday to preview a story he will be publishing this week on just how widespread is the NSA spying on Americans. His revelations may shock you.

[quote]If you are [R30] why don't you show up in trolldar?
Moron, has it still not occurred to you that some of us have more than one computer?
[quote]Oh, wait- just like I've said in other threads you are a government cocksucking troll who defends murder and spying.
*Shrug* You say that about everyone. Of course, you can't ever substantiate those claims, but that doesn't stop you from continuing these childish tactics.

R53 No one was hailed a hero because there was no equivalent to Snowden in 2006.
Nor was there any comparable news coverage of the topic under Bush.

[quote] France is furious with the US
And in other news, the sky was blue in many parts of the world today where it was not raining.. ...

I signed petitions years ago demanding that telecommunications businesses stop turning phone and email records to the government. You might have been a fetus then. But we knew about it. The media put a near blackout on the news because Bush was president. Now that Obama is president, it's all over the news media.
The same way that Benghazi is all over the media while all the murders at US embassies during the Bush administration made back page news, if they made the news at all.
And you never heard of households with desktops, iPhones, iPads, iPods? They each have a different ISP you numbskull.

[quote] . Jack was set to show how he could hack into pacemakers and implanted defibrillators from 30ft away.
Dick Cheney has an implanted defibrillator.
Do you really think Cheney would let him live to present that?
It was a dumb move guaranteed to get him killed. Dick Cheney is a master of the universe. He has contacts upon contacts. He's responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. One more death would be nothing to him. He'd let someone know "Make it happen" and the subject will be made dead.

So, revealing illegal actions by the government is espionage?
Orwell was just 29 years off...

Meh. Revealing classified government information is, and always has been, treated as espionage or something very like espionage.
I don't know why you pretend to be shocked, shocked! to find that they're charging this famewhoring idiot for the shit he pulled.